Free Association

by Various Berkoff

The actor, director and playwright, Steven Berkoff, recounts his childhood in London's East End, the trips "up west" during his teenage years, a formative year with family in the USA, his early career in showbiz, and how he drew on his experiences to write his plays.

Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

Reviews

[Mandy Partridge]

So glad I found this book in the free library at QPAC, the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
Stephen Berkoff is an astounding writer and performer, and her writes to give performers some mind-blowing roles and speeches. I first came across his work when a speech teacher suggested a monologue from Decadence as an audition piece- "Hunting is so fucking thrilling, if you haven't done it, it's like explaining a fuck to the Pope."
Like Richard O'Brien, who wrote the Rocky Horror Show, Berkoff wrote plays for him and his friends to act in, while they waited around between auditions. He captures the cultures and speech of working class, ruling class and all sorts of outliers, and his work is dynamic and unpredictable as a result.
Not to mention hilarious.
As someone who has written for circus theatre, straight and musical theatre, I love his concept of "Total Theatre", including all the aspects of performance in his work. Berkoff doesn't hold back in his criticism of the class system, sexism and racism, but not in a preachy way, in an extraordinary, entertaining and thought-provoking way.
Berkoff is Britain's Brecht, and theatre companies should show more of his work.

[Jordan Phizacklea-Cullen]

Irascible, meandering but thoroughly entertaining; the chopped-up sequencing of events will frustrate some, but if you've any interest at all in Berkoff, the great iconoclast of British theatre, then there's plenty to enjoy here (especially when he really lets rip on all he hates in the fusty, constrictive atmosphere of 'traditional, respectable' theatre).